“Enhancing Your Future Through Faculty Development”

The Department of Family Medicine at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital offers full-time and part-time faculty development fellowships. This program has trained over 100 graduates as fellows and trainees who have become leaders in family medicine education.

Why Do Faculty Development?

The Faculty Development Program

Fellowship and Traineeship Options

Opportunity for Professional Growth

Core Faculty and Staff



Why Do Faculty Development?

Family Medicine has a long tradition of teaching excellence. By enrolling in the Cook County Faculty Development Program you will obtain the skills to maintain this tradition. You will learn:

                   To prepare curricula for new learning environments in ambulatory and community settings.

                   Leadership skills to succeed in a changing health environment from managed care to
                      community-oriented primary care.

                   Valuable research and computer skills.

                   How to conduct a project to answer questions about your practice or teaching setting.


 


The Faculty Development Program

The Faculty Development Program was started by the Department of Medicine Practice at Cook County Hospital in 1984 with support from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). Since its inception, the goal of the Center has been to train family physicians to teach and lead medicine improvement in medically underserved settings. Over 60 percent of its graduates teach and provide clinical care in federally qualified health centers or other medically underserved settings, and a majority of graduates are members of minority groups or women. The program serves physicians from hospitals and health centers throughout the metropolitan Chicago area who are committed to improving teaching, research, and leadership skills relevant to providing high quality, community-oriented care for the underserved and diverse patient populations.

The Setting: John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (formerly Cook County Hospital)

John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital is located just west of downtown Chicago on a large medical campus, which includes Rush Medical College, the Medical College of the University of Illinois, UIC Hospital, the School of Public Health, and a large VA Hospital. Established in 1915 as Cook County Hospital, it is famous for its commitment to the underserved, the excellence of many of its departments, and its contributions to medical research. In addition to its patient care function, the newly built Stroger Hospital is a major training center with over 400 residents and fellows in most specialties

The Faculty Development Program draws on faculty and consultants from Loyola University’s Department of Family Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health. Loyola University Family Medicine is the academic affiliate for the Cook County-Loyola-Provident Family Medicine Residency Program and shares a commitment to the improvement of care for the underserved. UIC’s School of Public Health contributes nationally recognized expertise in epidemiology, community and maternal/child health, and leadership training.

 


 


Fellowship and Traineeship Options

The Faculty Development Center provides a variety of curricular options for faculty at different stages of professional development and with different needs.

The core curriculum of the fellowship is taught in five one-week blocks. 

 

                  Teaching & Curriculum Development

                  Research and Community Health

                  Communication in Teaching & Practice

                  Addressing Health Disparities: Medicine, Culture, and Society

                  Leadership and Collaboration.


Blocks can be taken individually or in sequence.

A teaching skills series designed to improve abilities to lecture, lead group discussions and precept is integrated into the curriculum through workshops on Monday of the first four blocks, with an annual presentation conference scheduled on the 3rd Thursday in May.  The 5-day traineeship can be taken independently of the block weeks.   This traineeship enables learners to experiment with each teaching modality, receive constructive feedback from faculty and peers, and review their progress on videotape.

Full-time fellows receive a salary, tuition for graduate coursework and a stipend to attend a regional or national family medicine conference. Fellows participate in the five one-week curriculum blocks described below, precept residents and medical students in the outpatient clinic and the family medicine inpatient service, practice-giving lectures to medical students and residents and receive administrative experience through participation in Departmental committees such as quality assurance or curriculum.

Part-time or off-site fellows participate in some or all of the five blocks and continue clinical work at their home site. Part-time fellows are generally junior faculty or advanced residents.

Trainees also can be either faculty members or senior residents planning a teaching career. They attend the teaching skills series on the Mondays of each block week and other select workshops, a total of five full days on site.

Instructors are drawn from faculty at CCH, Rush, and Loyola as well as from the Department of Medical Education and the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois. Readings and work assignments enhance the learning experience. One hour of CME credit is given for each hour of class time. Thus, fellows can earn up to 150 hours of CME credit and trainees can earn up to 30 hours of credit.

 

   

Opportunity for Professional Growth

Projects
All participants conduct a year-long research, curriculum or community intervention project. Fellows and trainees receive individual attention from CCH and Rush faculty as well as outside consultants. They also benefit from feedback from peers in more informal research and curriculum project review sessions. In several cases, projects that participants began during their fellowship made a significant impact on residency education at their home institutions or were published in medical journals.


Conferences
Each year fellows participate in a variety of conferences as presenters or attendees. Fellows are allotted a stipend to attend conferences sponsored by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. The CCH Departmental Conference held each June provides fellows and trainees another opportunity to present research and curriculum projects in progress.

Post Graduate Study
The Faculty Development Center has a close relationship with UIC’s School of Public Health and the Department of Medical Education. Through these programs fellows can take advanced coursework and earn Masters Degrees in Public Health (MPH) or Health Professions Education (MHPE). Through cooperative arrangements fellows can also receive academic credit for the faculty development seminars they attend and their research projects.

Facilities
Fellows and trainees have access to the Rush Medical Library and Computer Lab as well as the library at CCH.
Fellows enrolled in coursework at UIC have access to all university facilities including the Health Sciences Library and the mainframe, which provides access to the Internet and all electronic databases free of charge.

Advanced Clinical Training
Fellows precept residents and medical students in the outpatient clinics and the Family Practice Inpatient Service under the supervision of FDP faculty. The three family medicine training sites are: Fantus, the hospital's main outpatient clinic where 17,000 patients from diverse backgrounds are seen each year; the Jorge Prieto Clinic, which is located in a working class Latino community and serves 30,000 patients; and the Englewood Health Center, which provides care to 9,000 patients and is located in a predominantly African-American community on Chicago’s south side.

Cost
For off-site trainees and fellows:  The cost for the five teaching skills sessions is $500.00 if you work with underserved populations or $800.00 if you do not primarily work with the underserved.  The cost for the fellowship is $500.00/week or $2,500 for all  five block weeks if you work with underserved populations.  If you do not primarily work with the underserved, the cost is $1,000/week or $5,000 for all five weeks.

Applications
Physicians interested in advanced training in teaching, research and other areas are invited to apply. Full-time on-site fellowship applicants must be graduates of a family medicine residency program approved by the ACGME, and must be able to obtain an unrestricted license to practice medicine in Illinois. Women & minorities are encouraged to apply.

Contact information (for participants interested in the teaching skills traineeship or block  week series, or the full-time fellowship for 2008-2009):

PHONE: (312) 864-3531 (Stephanie Tillman, Program Administrator)
FAX: (312) 864-9204;  claytillman@earthlink.net

 
 

Core Faculty and Staff

Janice Benson, MD, Principal Investigator
Curriculum Development, Urban Medicine
Email:jben267@aol.com

Alicia Vazquez, MD, Director

John Kahler, MD, Faculty
Communication, Family Systems

Stephanie Tillman; Administrator
Email:claytillman@earthlink.net

 

 


 
 


Last reviewed: July 14, 2008

 
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